I don't get the love for the "Wheel of Time" books. Jordon was so blatantly derivative that I couldn't get past the first few. Same thing with the "Eregon" books. I might read Sanderson's WOT books though. Everything else of his has been incredible, especially "Elantris."

I just finished my favorite book ever, it changed my life it was so good: "Razors Edge" my Somerset Maugham. I picked it up at a used book sale in the early 90's because the book was really old and it looked cool. It is a reprint from 1947, not worth anything though but I enjoy reading books in the older fonts and printing layouts, sure beats out an Ipad or kindleing.

After dinner I am reading the kids Hemmingway's "Old man and the sea".

I started "The sun also rises"

After that I have a pile: Mann's "Magic Mountain" and "Buddenbrooks", Collected Short Stories of Maugham, Williams, Fitzgerald, Hemmingway.

Plus at night I read the Little House books to my 9 year old daughter, we are close to the end on "These Happy Golden Years".

If you don't read to your kids you should. My daughter loves anything to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder and you should see her face light up when she talks about her. She wants to go to her house in Missouri, I am going to try to find any Wilder historical sites and plan a family trip around them if my health cooperates.

I don't get the love for the "Wheel of Time" books. Jordon was so blatantly derivative that I couldn't get past the first few.

Nothing wrong with derivative if the reader is unfamiliar with the source(s). And honestly, isn't everything in that "good vs. evil/brave knight/slay the dragon/ravish the maiden" genre derivative?

You can over-think anything. As great a book as McCarthy's "The Road" is completely ruined if you think for one second - any and every form of survivors/bandits/thieves and rogues would be clinging to the edges of that highway. The Dad and the kid wouldn't have made it 20 miles.

I just finished my favorite book ever, it changed my life it was so good: "Razors Edge" my Somerset Maugham. I picked it up at a used book sale in the early 90's because the book was really old and it looked cool. It is a reprint from 1947, not worth anything though but I enjoy reading books in the older fonts and printing layouts, sure beats out an Ipad or kindleing.

After dinner I am reading the kids Hemmingway's "Old man and the sea".

I started "The sun also rises"

After that I have a pile: Mann's "Magic Mountain" and "Buddenbrooks", Collected Short Stories of Maugham, Williams, Fitzgerald, Hemmingway.

Plus at night I read the Little House books to my 9 year old daughter, we are close to the end on "These Happy Golden Years".

If you don't read to your kids you should. My daughter loves anything to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder and you should see her face light up when she talks about her. She wants to go to her house in Missouri, I am going to try to find any Wilder historical sites and plan a family trip around them if my health cooperates.

Great Memories.

Old Man and the sea! Love that book!

Anything by Hemingway is good. I have a book of his short stories, haven't read them in a while though.

I just finished my favorite book ever, it changed my life it was so good: "Razors Edge" my Somerset Maugham.

Something of Maugham's has affected my life as well. There's a specific exchange in "Of Human Bondage" that recurrently comes to mind over the years: The (partially) crippled protagonist is an aspiring painter ... at some point he has the opportunity to speak with a successful master painter, and summons the courage to ask, "please tell me, do I have enough talent, do I have what it takes?" ... the master says "don't you believe you have enough talent to make it?" ... his response is, "perhaps, but I have many friends who believe they possess such, and I know them to be mistaken."

That passage has often come to mind for me. I've always tried to avoid self-delusion, not seeing myself through those rose-colored glasses, friends who've known me for years knock my "ruthless" self-examination. In hindsight, there should be some middle ground: you should be confident beyond objectivity, but not beyond reality.

Something of Maugham's has affected my life as well. There's a specific exchange in "Of Human Bondage" that recurrently comes to mind over the years: The (partially) crippled protagonist is an aspiring painter ... at some point he has the opportunity to speak with a successful master painter, and summons the courage to ask, "please tell me, do I have enough talent, do I have what it takes?" ... the master says "don't you believe you have enough talent to make it?" ... his response is, "perhaps, but I have many friends who believe they possess such, and I know them to be mistaken."

That passage has often come to mind for me. I've always tried to avoid self-delusion, not seeing myself through those rose-colored glasses, friends who've known me for years knock my "ruthless" self-examination. In hindsight, there should be some middle ground: you should be confident beyond objectivity, but not beyond reality.

Yep, Of Human Bondage and "Rain" are great reads also up there for me with Steinbeck's East of Eden, of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, Kranz's "Failure is not an option". How one deals with adversity and the choices we make.

I know people who knock lit because it is old and they were forced to read some in school but the history of lives bad decisions are just plot twists away on my shelf.

I told my 9 year old daughter that if anything happened to me and she needed an answer to a life lesson her answer is in her book and my meager library in my den if she is patient to look hard enough. It is amazing to see how much great commonsense is packed into Abby's Little House books, and to see it in her face and she understands how Ma and Pa Inglals make decisions based on no money and hope. Almanzo said at one point in one of the books you "Got to make your own luck".

Can't wait to read Harper Lee, Truman Copote, Dickens, more Dickens, etc...as they both get older and understand what is happening.

READ TO YOUR KIDS or if you have an older alzheimer family memeber READ TO THEM. Reading to some one is a great thing and great memories.

I don't get the love for the "Wheel of Time" books. Jordon was so blatantly derivative that I couldn't get past the first few. Same thing with the "Eregon" books. I might read Sanderson's WOT books though. Everything else of his has been incredible, especially "Elantris."

I'm giving The Gunslinger (King) series another shot. Though I might have to take the sage advice to just read the synopsis of Book 1. Last time I tried to read it the prose (esp the overuse of a thesaurus by King) just about gave me an aneurism.

I'm not reading back through all 40 pages of this thread to see if it has already been mentioned, but if you like Epic Science Fiction, I am near the end of Steven Erikson's 10,000+ page series of "the Malazan Book of the Fallen." Ten books, each around 900-1,300 pages. I have never, ever in my life read a storyline as complex. Sometimes you read one sentence that turns the plot from 5,000 pages earlier in the series and re-weaves it into the current story line. It is truly amazing.

I am also reading my first graphic novel "Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth." I am only about 50 pages into it, so I don't know what I think of it yet, but it is pretty interesting for a grown up comic book. Relatively depressing so far, but an interesting take on grown up angst/regret/remorse.

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins. It's about his experiences as a reporter in the Iraq and Afganistan wars. A really good read.

I second this. I have read this book twice, the latest time we had one of my friends read it and come to my book club - he was a medic that had recently returned from Afghanistan with the Oklahoma National Guard unit that was shot up there. The book is intense and graphic, and our discussion was very interesting and confirmed Filkins' take on the situation there.

If you like Filkins, check out his recent youtube interviews on Afghanistan/Pakistan and his take on where we actually stand in that region - the two part interview lasts about 20 minutes, but is a really good follow up to the book.

I'm giving The Gunslinger (King) series another shot. Though I might have to take the sage advice to just read the synopsis of Book 1. Last time I tried to read it the prose (esp the overuse of a thesaurus by King) just about gave me an aneurism.

I've been telling myself to re-read Song of Ice and Fire for years now... bought autographed copies of 1-4 but I just cannot make it through Feast for Crows, no matters how much I loved Books 1-3! I hate to say it, but Martin is really suffering from whatever plagued Robert Jordan in the WoT series. The plot just starts draaaaging. Hope I can make it through Feast one day so I can get on and read Dance With Dragons.

The Dark Tower series is definitely worth your read. Books 1-4 are incredible... Wolves of the Calla and Song for Susannah were a bit different, but the last book is definitely anti-climactic. Still a great read and an awesome concept. I think King just had some trouble wrapping it up and putting it all together towards the end. I'm pumped for the new Dark Tower book King is releasing this year -The Wind Through the Keyhole?

Iíve been on a horizontal trip reading about every American War since October of last year. In order hereís what Iíve read.

The war that made America: A short history of the French and Indian War by Fred Anderson

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff

1776 by David McCullough

Union 1812 by A.J. Langguth

The Guns of August by Barbara Wertheim Tuchman

The Rise and fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer

Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines against Japan by Robert Leckie

I liked all of these books since Iím a history nut. The Rise and fall of the 3rd Reich was an amazing book I must say.

The one that impressed me the least was The Guns of August. So I need to find a better book at WWI. I still have yet to read a good book on the Whisky Rebellion, The Korean War and the Vietnam War. If you guys have suggestions I'd love to hear them.

I read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang years ago. Within the last year I read Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. That was a strange and interesting book. I want to read Catch 22 someday too.

I just finished Strong Men Armed last week. It was a tough one to get through because it was all battle and combat, the graphic nature of it got to me a little bit. So Iím taking a break and reading something light right now. But I want to continue my American War study soon.

Iíve been on a horizontal trip reading about every American War since October of last year. In order hereís what Iíve read.

The war that made America: A short history of the French and Indian War by Fred Anderson

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 by Robert Middlekauff

1776 by David McCullough

Union 1812 by A.J. Langguth

The Guns of August by Barbara Wertheim Tuchman

The Rise and fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer

Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines against Japan by Robert Leckie

I liked all of these books since Iím a history nut. The Rise and fall of the 3rd Reich was an amazing book I must say.

The one that impressed me the least was The Guns of August. So I need to find a better book at WWI. I still have yet to read a good book on the Whisky Rebellion, The Korean War and the Vietnam War. If you guys have suggestions I'd love to hear them.

I read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang years ago. Within the last year I read Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. That was a strange and interesting book. I want to read Catch 22 someday too.

I just finished Strong Men Armed last week. It was a tough one to get through because it was all battle and combat, the graphic nature of it got to me a little bit. So Iím taking a break and reading something light right now. But I want to continue my American War study soon.

I found this at the library a few years ago, it was pretty good but was limited to the USA involvement.

Gilbert, Martin. The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War

I live near Cantigny, the home of Robert McCormack (Tribune Publisher after the war) I read a book on the battle of Cantigny but it was not a gripping read, just history.

I found a WWI BBC series that was heavy on the 1st couple years and light on the Somme and USA involvement I have found the books and features on History Channel in the USA is opposite, light on the start and beginning and heavy on the USA actions.

I totally agree with this....8 started the blah, and then I read 9(really bad) and I ordered 10(back in the day) and never read it. Maybe I should just skip to 12 and 13? I read this series a long time ago, and I haven't read a series of books sense then....and yes, I would like to find the next series of books that could compete with the 1st 7 books of WofT.....any suggestions?

The last several months I have been reading my way through the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you've never read them, they are really great fun. It's hard to explain why, but it feels like the books have made me a better thinker and student of the world, as well.

I have also been working my way through the Robert Harris roman trilogy. Great stuff.

Here are some ideas for you (and it seems from your list that we have similar tastes in books):
"Chanur" series by C.J Cherryh
-Minus the last book, "Chanur's Legacy." Not up to Cherryh's usual standards (far from it) and a spin-off from the series.

"Foreigner" series also by C.J Cherryh
-Twelve books and counting (#13 due out in March).

"Species Imperative" series by Julie E Czerneda
-Great series by an author I'd never heard of before. Got the first book at the then local used book store on a whim and was impressed.

"Freedom" series and "Pern" series by Anne McCaffrey
-To a degree, typical McCaffrey but better than most of her stuff.

"Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
-A twelve year old criminal mastermind? Really? Yes, really. I've read this series through three or four times.

"Ender" series by Orson Scott Card
-Hands down, one of the greatest sci-fi series of all time.

The "League of Peoples" books by James Alan Gardner.
-Not a series in the traditional sense as the characters change from one book to the next with one semi-main character appearing in five of the seven books, but definitely related and should be read in publication order.

The "Hunger Games" series by Suzanne Collins
-One of the freshest new voices in sci-fi.

"Idlewild" series by Nick Sagan (son of Carl).
-I picked up the second book (didn't know it was a series) at the library simply because I heard Nick was the son of astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator Carl Sagan. It absolutely blew my freakin' doors off! All three are great reads and I've read the series three times now, in just the last year or so.

These are the ones I can think of without having to dig into my favorite site, Fantastic Fiction.

The last several months I have been reading my way through the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you've never read them, they are really great fun. It's hard to explain why, but it feels like the books have made me a better thinker and student of the world, as well.

I have also been working my way through the Robert Harris roman trilogy. Great stuff.

My dad gave me my Grandfathers library when I was a kid, way too young to give a kid such nice collections, my younger brother destroyed one of the Doyle books. Some nice hardbound reprints from 1919-1940's of Les Miserables, Collected works of Doyle, Collected works of Poe, Collected works of Kipling (overrated in my book).

I enjoyed Les Mis and the Doyle books the best.

BTW I am not a fan of Mystery on PBS but I caught the latest BBC iteration of Sherlock Holms and I love it, it is a modern day version and is entertaining.